Retractable fire escape



1940. .1. SCHULTZ ET AL RETRACTABLE FIRE ESCAPE Filed April 8, 1939 Patented Aug. 6, 1940 '3."

UNITED STATES PA ENT orncs John Schultz, atum E. McCrillis, and Walter Application April 8,;

i 8 Claims.

- This invention relates to the class of fire escapes and pertains particularly to an improved retractable fire escape structure. 2 The present invention has for its primary object to provide a fire escape which is designed primarily for use upon small buildings such as residences, boarding houses or small hotels, wherein an escape ladder is maintained in wound up condition in a suitable compartment in a. wall of the building above the highest floor thereof and is releasable to be projected outwardly and downwardly so as to be easily accessible from windows in the building.

Another object of the invention is to providein an escape structure of the above described character, a novel means for supporting the Wound up escape ladder so that when released it will move by gravity outwardly and downwardly to a position spaced from the building wall and will then drop automatically in parallel relation with the wall where it may be easily reached from ad-' jacent windows but will be suificiently far out to avoid being damaged bya blaze coming from any of the building windows.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel means for efiecting the re winding of a fire escape ladder of the above described construction, after the ladder has been released for use.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description of the invention proceeds and the invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming part'of this speci fication, with the understanding however, that the invention is not to be confined to any'strict' conformity with the showing of the drawing but may be changed or modified so long as such changes or modifications mark no'material departure from the salientfeatures of the inven' tion as expressed in theappended claims. v V In the drawing: y Fig. 1 is a view illustratingdiagrammatically 5 the application of the present invention to a building wall, the invention'b'eing seen from the outside of the building. A

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view through the fire escape showing the same in extended position. Fig. 3 is a view in top plan of the ladder drum and latching means,

the drum. H

Fig. 4 is a sectional the line 4-4 of Fig. 3. 55 -Fig. 5 is a-view illustrating schematically the view taken substantiallyon the ladder being moved from V rounds 22 The side attached at their outer or lower ends to the inner 55.

1939, serial No. 266,830

lower portion of the ladder with the closure and the spring connecting means therebetween. Referring'now more particularly to the drawing, the numerall designates a portion of a wall of a building-in association with which the present escape structure is to be employed. In accordance with the present invention, there is provided in the wall I, above the top floor and in line with a vertical series of windows of the several underlying floors, an opening 2 in which is se- 10 cured a housing 3. The outer'side of this housing is located flush with thel'outer side of the wall I' and-is provided with a'closure 4 which is unsecured and is frictionally held in place so that the ladder carrying structure within the housing 3, 15 when released and movedoutwardly by gravity, will force the closure to-open position, the doorbeing attached to the ladder for the purpose herei-nafter described. a a

Within the housing at each side thereof there 20 is secured in outwardly'and downwardly inclined position a set of stationary tracks which is indicated generally by the numeral 5, each set being made up of the two or rails 6 which are track bars arranged in spaced parallel relation as shown, 25 the forwardends of the rails terminating in the plane of the opening of the casing, as shown.

\ Mounted between the rails 6 of each set of tracks is a set of sliding tracks indicated generally by the numeral land bars 8, each of which is in slidable engagement with the inner face of arail 6, as shown. These bars are held in spaced relation in any suitable manner asby the provision of the transverse end spacing members 9. Each set of sliding tracks is 35 designed to slide forwardly and downwardly on a stationary set of tracks to project'a substantial distance outwardly from the'casing 3 and the outward movement of the sliding tracks is limited by suitable stop members Hlengaging the fixed stops 40 H on the adjacent rails 6. Mounted between the bars 8 of each set of sliding tracks is a wheel I2 having a central rotatable bearing unit 13 in which is secured the axle M of a drum Hi. This drum'comprises a cylinder por- 2 tion [6 having asingle flange IT at one end and two'spacedfianges l8 'at the opposite end between which spacedflanges a short cylinder portion I9 is located; thus providing a main winding cylinder and an auxiliaryiwinding cylinder.

. Attached to iii of the drum the main cylinder is one endof'aladder 20 which is made up of fiexibleside strands 2t and cross members or strands 2| of the ladder are consisting of the two spaced 30- face of the door 4 and function to hold the door closed as hereinafter more specifically described. Attached to the auxiliary drum cylinder I9 is one adjacent wall I. downwardly in the of the building and This cable or chain extends building wall to the bottom is accessible from within a room ,of the building through a suitable opening 26, for the purpose hereinafter described. Disposed within the casing 3 and extending trans versely of the same is a rock shaft 21, the ends of which may be suitably supported as in bearings 28 which are here shown as being carried by or mounted upon the top fixed rails 6. Adjacent each end of the shaft 27 is a latching finger 29 which extends forwardly and these fingers are spaced apart so that the drum unit I5 when it is retracted into the housing or casing 3, may position between them. The'fingers will then be located adjacentthe outer sides of the end flanges l1 and I3 of the drum. Each of the drum flanges l1 and I8 has secured to its outer face the annular series of teeth or pins 30 and when the drum drum inthe casing. A suitable spring 3| is connected with each latch finger to normally urge the same downwardly, the downward rocking movement of the finger being limited in any suitable manner as by the provision of a stopmember 32 which might be connected with a rock shaft 2'! to engage a finger 33 carried by a fixed part of the mechanism such as the track 6. Thus when the latch fingers are out of engagement with the pins 30, these stop members 32-33 will cooperate to hold vthe fingers in the proper position where, when the ladder drum is retracted into the casing, the pins 30 will ride under the fingers to be engaged thereby.

At the central part of the rock shaft 21 a lever arm 34 is secured to the attached a pull cord or cable 35. This cable extends from the casing over suitable pulleys 36, downwardly through the wall of the building and in passing through the wall it lies adjacent to doors or openings 31 which are accessible from within the adjacent rooms of the building so that in the event of fire, an occupant of any of the rooms which are adjacent the fire escape, may reach the cable or chain 35 through a door opening 31 and by pulling on the chain lift the fingers 29 for the release of the ladder drum.

When the escape structure is not in use, the

sliding track units 1 will be retracted into the The fingers 29 hold the drum against turning and also prevent the forward sliding movement of the shiftable or sliding tracks.

When the fingers 29 are raised, the ladder carrying drum as well as the sliding tracks will tend to move forwardly in the casing due to the inclined position of the tracks and this will allow the casing door 4 to fall out. function as a weight means to'eifect rotation of the drum and the unwinding'of, the ladder. The

outer end of which is The door will then sliding tracks will move outwardly until checked by the stops Ill-H and the drum will also roll the re-winding of the ladder thereon may be eifected, access bedoors 26 in the building wall.

In order to accelerate the initial movement of the cable drum l5 and the sliding tracks 1, the lower end of theiadder 2| may be coupled with the door 4 by a pair of springs 39 which will be stretched, or placed under tension when the drum projected from the casing. I

From the foregoing, it will that there has here been in a wall of a completed building, and it will also be readily apparent that this device will function efiiciently and will not be likely to fail at a crucial moment due to complexity of construction.

What is claimed'is:

means connected with the closure for starting the outward movement of the drum when the holding means is released.

2. A fire escape for buildings, comprising a casing adapted to be mounted within a building.

and may move longitudinally ofsaid tracks for extension through theopen side of said casing to a position forwardly ofisaidwall, a flexible ladder wound upon .said' drum, releasable means. for maintaining the drum within the casing with said ladder .zwound thereon, a closure for the open front of said casing, and spring means connecting an end of the ladder with said closure, the closure functioningas a weight means for effecting the unwinding of the ladder from the drum when the drum is pro'jectedToutwardlyfromthe casing, and said spring means being under tension when the drum is in the casing and functioning to start the projection of the drum outwardly.

3. A fire escape for buildings, comprising a pair of fixed track units secured in spaced parallel sion from said opening outwardly from the building wall, a drum, means rotatably supporting the drum at its ends between said movable track units, said means facilitating the shifting of the drum longitudinally of the track units, a flexible cable ladder having one end secured to the drum to be wound up thereon, the other end of said ladder being connected to said closure member, means releasable from a point remote'from said wall opening for retaining said drum and movable track units in retracted position within the wall opening, and means for efiecting the retraction of said drum and slidable track units into the wall opening and winding up said ladder on the drum from a point remote from the wall opening.

4. A fire escape structure for buildings, comprising a casing mounted within a wall of the building and having an outwardly directed open side, a pair of track units fixed within the casing and disposed at a downward and outward inclination, a pair of movable track units each carried by a fixed unit for limited longitudinal movement thereon, each of said movable units comprising a pair of spaced parallel bars, a wheel mounted between each pair of bars, a drum disposed between said wheels and rotatably connected therewith, a flexible ladder having one end secured to said drum to be wound up thereon, a removable closure for the open side of said casing having the other end of said ladder attached to the inner side thereof, an annular series of teeth carried upon one end of the drum concentrically therewith, oscillatable latch means within the casing for engagement with said teeth to retain the drum and sliding track units retracted in the casing, and means for shifting said latch finger from a point remote from the casing to effect the release of the drum.

5. A fire escape structure for buildings, comprising a casing mounted within a wall of the building and having an outwardly directed open side, a pair of track units fixed within the casing and disposed at *a downward and outward inclination, a pair of movable track units each carried by a fixed unit for limited longitudinal movement thereon, each of said movable units comprising a pair of spaced parallel bars, a wheel mounted between each pair of bars, a drum disposed between said wheels and rotatably connected therewith, a flexible ladder having one end secured to said drum to be wound up thereon, a removable closure for the open side of said casing having the other end of said ladder attached to the inner side thereof, an annular series of teeth Jcarri'ed upon oneend of the drum concentrically therewith, oscillatable latch means within the casing for engagement with saidteeth toretain' the drum and sliding track units retracted in the casing, I means for shifting said latch finger from apoint' remote from the casing to effect the release of: the drum, an auxiliary drum forming a part of said first drum and concentric therewith and a cable connected at one end with'ithe auxiliary drum and unwound therefromwhen the saiddrums are retracted into the casing, said cable being wound up upon the auxiliary drum when the first drum is rotated for the unwinding of the ladder whereby its reverse rotation may be eiTected by pulling the cable from a point remote .from the casing.

6. A fire escape structure for buildings, comprising a casing mounted within a wall of the building and having an outwardly directed open side, a pair of track units fixed within the casing and disposed at a downward and outward inclination, a pair of movable track units each car-. ried by a fixed unit for limited longitudinal movement thereon, each of said movable units comprising a pair of spaced parallel bars, a wheel mounted between each pair of bars, a drum disposed between said wheels and rotatably connected therewith, a flexible ladder having one end secured to said drum to be wound up thereon, a removable closure for the open side of said casing having the other end of said ladder attached to the inner side thereof, an annular series of teeth carried upon one end of the drum concentrically therewith, oscillatable latch means within the casing for engagement with said teeth to retain the drum and sliding track units retracted in the casing, means for shifting said latch finger from a point remote from the casing to effect the release of the drum, and means for accelerating the initial forward movement of the drum in the casing when said latch means is disengaged from the drum teeth.

7. A fire escape structure for buildings, comprising a casing mounted within a wall of the building and having an outwardly directed open side, a pair of track units fixed within the casing and disposed at a downward and outward inclination, a pair of movable track units each carried by a fixed unit for limited longitudinal movement thereon, each of said movable unitscomprising a pair of spaced parallel bars, a wheel mounted between each pair of bars, a drum disposed between said wheels and rotatably connected therewith, a flexible ladder having one end secured to said drum to be wound up thereon, a removable closure for the open side of said casing having the other end of said ladder attached to the inner side thereof, an annular series of teeth carried upon one end of the drum concentrically therewith, oscillatable latch means within the casing for engagement with said teeth to retain the drum and sliding track units retracted in the casing, means for shifting said latch finger from a point remote from the casing to efiect the release of the drum, and spring members forming a part of said ladder at the end adjacentthe closure and adapted to be placed under tension when the ladder is wound up on the drum and retracted with the movableunits into the casing and the closure is disposed in the open side of the casing.

8. A fire escape structure for buildings, comprising a pair of fixed track units disposed in spaced parallel relation and at an inclination within and transversely of a building wall and to "the saidposition forwardly of the wall, and means connected with the closure for starting the outward movement of the drum when the holding means is released, and means operable from within the building for retracting the drum and simultaneously reverselyturning the drum to re-wind the ladder thereon.

JOE-IN SCHULTZ. HOLLAND E. MCCRILLIS. WALTER C. COATY. 

